The mostly migrant workers represented by the United Voices of the World (UVW) trade union held protests on Tuesday outside the offices of Kensington and Chelsea council and the MoJ, where they were joined by the Labour MP Emma Dent Coad, whose seat is Kensington.

One of the main demands of the striking cleaners is to be paid the London living wage of £10.20 an hour, as advocated by the Living Wage Foundation, instead of the government stipulated “national living wage” of £7.83 an hour.

Both the council and the ministry blamed the failure to pay their cleaning staff the recommended London minimum on the contractors who employed them, Amey and OCS respectively.

Quick guide

The living wage

Minimum wages in the UK explained

The living wage is independently calculated, voluntary and based on the cost of living. There are two rates, to recognise the higher cost of living in London. These are:

London living wage: £10.20 per hour

UK living wage: £8.75

The national living wage is a statutory minimum all employers must pay staff aged over 25.

National living wage (formerly the minimum wage): £7.83

Other minimum rates of pay apply to workers under the age of 25.

Photograph: www.alamy.com

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In a statement on Tuesday, the Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington council (RKBC) said it “always seeks to get value for money for our residents and taxpayers, to which we are held accountable.

“We are not prepared to pay more for a contract with a private sector company which has a turnover of billions and which clearly has the resources to pay staff appropriately. We do not control what Amey pays their own staff.”

However, in an earlier statement released by RKBC it said it was “taking back the services [Amey] provided to us”, prompting UVW to celebrate a “victory” in the belief that cleaning services were being taken back in house.

The council’s later statement said only that it would “be reviewing the cleaning services” and a spokesman told the Guardian that it was “premature” to say they were being taken back, leading to accusations from UVW that the council had gone back on its word.

Petros Elia, a UVW organiser, said: "We are very disappointed with the retraction of RKBC of bringing the cleaners back in house. We find it contemptuous and disrespectful and it shows the bad faith with which they are engaging with the cleaners. Obviously, this strike will continue and build."

The contract with Amey was always scheduled to end this year, regardless of the industrial action.

Amey refused to take the blame for the low pay, saying RKBC could have stipulated that the London living wage be paid as other local authorities have.

A spokesman said: “We have a number of agreements with London councils to pay the London living wage. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea made no such request and so the staff on this contract currently receive the national living wage.”

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UVW said that the cleaners’ low wages mean most have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Maria Echeverria, union rep and organiser, said the strike “shows that major public institutions can no longer use outsourcing contracts as a shield to hide from poverty pay and exploitative conditions”.

The other demands of the cleaners are an occupational sick pay scheme and parity of terms and conditions with directly employed staff.

The MoJ cleaners work at three sites and are employed by OCS, who the ministry said was responsible for pay. Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, called the MoJ’s behaviour “shameful” and urged the government to lead by example.

Luis, a striking MoJ worker, said: “Even though we are paid minimum wage, the company still tries to make us work harder and harder, doing more tasks and cleaning more, and the company doesn’t send anyone to replace the workers who are sick or absent.

“It is because they don’t even listen to us or treat us with respect that we have to strike. It is [why] we call this place the Ministry of Injustice.”